››General Anxiety Disorder
General anxiety
disorder is when your girlfriend is pregnant, your wife just found out
you have a girlfriend, your parents just found out you have a wife,
your boss is your wife’s dad and your girlfriend is your
wife’s mom. General anxiety disorders are clearly
the most extreme form of anxiety disorders, and should take
seriously. Less extreme forms, such as colonel anxiety
disorder, and lieutenant anxiety disorder, are more common and more
easily treatable, but if you have general anxiety disorder
you’re in real trouble.
That may just be the most absurd thing I’ve ever written, but
I can joke about general anxiety disorders because I have
one. While it’s always good to be able to laugh at
your misfortunes, general anxiety disorders can be very hard to live
with if you don’t seek treatment. A lot of people
with general anxiety disorders are either unaware of it, or ashamed to
seek help for it. This can often lead to dangerous and
unhealthy self-medication habits. Even if it
doesn’t, general anxiety disorders don’t usually go
away on their own, and often get worse with age.
Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce the
symptoms of a general anxiety disorder. Two things you can do
right off the bat that may lower your anxiety down to manageable levels
by themselves; quit caffeine, and get some regular exercise.
An excessive caffeine intake can mimic a general anxiety disorder, and
you may have been diagnosed with one when really you’re just
drinking too much coffee or tea. Exercise is also a great way
to boost your natural anti-anxiety chemicals. I’ve
found that so long as I keep caffeine intake down and go for regular
runs my anxiety is probably not any worse than average.
There are plenty of other things to try to help with a general anxiety
disorder as well, such as meditation, getting enough sleep, talk
therapy, creative arts, music, or anything that helps you
relax. No matter how crazy your life is, set aside some time
to do something relaxing everyday.
Everyone has anxiety in their life, and general anxiety disorder is
something of a vague diagnosis. However, if you’ve
found that even after trying everything you can think of to lower
anxiety yet you still have more than you can handle, it’s
never a bad idea to talk to your doctor about it. There are
some effective medications available for general anxiety disorders
today.
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A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
